0:12Skip to 0 minutes and 12 secondsPROFESSOR BRUCE SCATES: Now John wrote this song when he first heard about Fromelles. We all know the story of that bungled pointless battle. We all know the controversy that surrounded those exhumations from the killing fields. Now like any archaeological dig, Fromelles reminded us of a world we have lost. This collection of sad little things captures the tragedy, doesn't it, of a whole generation. And perhaps the richest of those relics wrested from the earth is this one -- one of the good luck charms carried by almost every soldier of the Great War. It was found sealed in his gas mask, the only place that cardboard wouldn't perish. As you can see, it's a train ticket-- economy class return, Perth to Freo.

1:00Skip to 1 minute and 0 secondsBut of course it's so much more than that, isn't it? This man believed he'd be going home, that somehow he'd survive the mass carnage of 1914 to 1918. That gesture of faith and hope is at least as eloquent as any other symbol of remembrance we might wear today. And it inspired John's song. Ladies and gentlemen, join me in welcoming John Cronin on guitar, Marcy Taylor, on violin. [APPLAUSE]

3:42Skip to 3 minutes and 42 secondsPlease don't call me soldier, because it's not my name. And it's a long way to Tipperary. It's a long way to Leicester Square. It's a long way to Fremantle Station. Where my love she waits there. And it's a long, long way. It's a long, long way, it's a long-- and it's a long, and it's a long way to Fremantle Station. Where my love she waits there.

'Tipperary to Fremantle Station' by John Cronin and Marcy Taylor

Watch John Cronin and Marcy Taylor perform ‘Tipperary to Fremantle Station’ at the book launch of ‘World War 1: A History in 100 Stories’.

Talking point

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